Pensoft is helping TETTRIX make taxonomic knowledge more accessible, connected, and valuable to the wider biodiversity community.
TETTRIX, a new €12 million EU project, aims to connect Europe’s taxonomic data, expertise and training to support biodiversity research and conservation. The four-year Horizon Europe project, coordinated by the Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF), held its kick-off meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 7-9 October 2026.
Structured around four complementary pillars – Integrate, Transform, Upskill and Demonstrate – the project will support innovation and collaboration across the European taxonomic community while expanding opportunities for external organisations to contribute to its objectives.
Pensoft’s role
Pensoft holds a keen interest in taxonomy and its role in biodiversity conservation. We have been collaborating with the taxonomic community for a long time now, and back in 2021, CETAF, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Pensoft worked together on the Red List of Insect Taxonomists project – a European Commission-funded initiative, which aimed to assess the available taxonomic expertise on insects across Europe and help identify insect taxa that are threatened by extinction.
Expanding from this interest and our extensive research in the field, in TETTRIX, Pensoft will help map the European taxonomic landscape using publication data and dynamic visualisations, and support the curation of expertise for the TETTRIX Marketplace, while advising on its functionality.
At Pensoft, we believe science has the greatest impact when it is accessible, shared and connected to the people who can use it. That’s why we’re excited to be part of TETTRIX and to help bring the project’s work to a wider audience, connect people and knowledge, and make sure the results don’t just stay within the project, but are shared, used, and built on by the wider community.
– Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, CEO and Founder of Pensoft
In addition to our scientific work, Pensoft will also take part in the publicity and communication side of the TETTRIX project. As a coordinator of Pillar 3: Capacity building & knowledge transfer and a lead of WP9: Outreach and Knowledge Transfer, Pensoft will contribute to enhancing TETTRIX’s visibility, stakeholder engagement, and long-term impact by connecting taxonomic knowledge and project results with researchers, policymakers, stakeholders, and wider society.
This will include developing the project’s visual identity and website, producing promotional materials, and engaging audiences through social media, newsletters, and press releases. Pensoft will also communicate the outcomes of the Satellite projects – third-party initiatives, funded by TETTRIX, which will help research and respond to present-day issues in biodiversity – through targeted content and communication campaigns.
Throughout the project, Pensoft will upkeep the TETTRIs legacy of promoting Taxonomy Recognition Day, celebrated every year on 23 May, and continue developing the #NameItToSaveIt campaign for taxonomic action.
The TETTRIX consortium
Coordinated by CETAF (Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities), TETTRIX brings together 19 partnering organisations from 12 countries to help Europe better understand, protect, and sustainably manage nature.
Visit the TETTRIX project website at tettrix.eu, and make sure to follow the project’s progress via our social media channels on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Colobothrix deckeri is the first in its moisture-loving family to be found in a part of Australia with a low annual rainfall.
The new speciesColobothrix deckeri is in the millipede family Dalodesmidae. It is remarkable because it is the first in its moisture-loving family to be found in a part of Australia with a low annual rainfall, between 400 and 500 mm.
Colobothrix deckeri. Mesibov, 2026. Image by Ben Parslow, SAMA.
The new species is also unusual for the shape of its sphaerotrichomes, which are tiny ball-shaped structures found on the legs of mature males in Dalodesmidae and some other millipedes. Sphaerotrichomes normally have a long, pointed seta emerging from the ball. The new species has been placed in the new genus Colobothrix, which means “stunted hair”, because the seta on its sphaerotrichomes is reduced to a short, blunt rod.
A cluster of sphaerotrichomes on a leg of C. deckeri. Scanning electron micrograph image by Robert Mesibov.
Colobothrix deckeri was named by Australian myriapodologist Robert Mesibov in honour of German colleague Peter Decker, who played a key role in the story behind the species rediscovery, as described in the peer-reviewed, open-access journal ZooKeys.
The first specimen of C. deckeri was collected in 1936 and deposited as an unidentified millipede in the South Australian Museum (SAMA). In 2015 Decker found the specimen among many he borrowed from the Museum for his PhD work on another millipede family, Paradoxosomatidae.
Decker recognised the specimen as a dalodesmid and sent images of its microscopic characters to Mesibov, who is a dalodesmid specialist. The specimen was the first evidence for Dalodesmidae in dry South Australia, and in 2016 and 2017 Mesibov searched the 1936 locality on South Australia’s lower Yorke Peninsula for fresh material. Both searches were unsuccessful, although the two trips yielded a new paradoxosomatid.
Meanwhile, arachnologists Michael Rix and Danilo Harms had been sampling spiders and associated litter invertebrates on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, about 50 km south of the 1936 locality. In 2010 they discovered a remarkable new species of assassin spider from a single site in the relatively wet northwestern corner of the island. They also collected several specimens of the new, still unidentified millipede at the same site and deposited them in the Western Australian Museum (WAM).
Early this year, Mesibov found the WAM millipede record online. He emailed WAM curator Mark Harvey, who kindly provided several images of the millipede collected by Rix and Harms, with close-ups of its diagnostic characters. The images showed that the 2010 Kangaroo Island specimens were the same species that had been collected in 1936 on the Yorke Peninsula.
Kangaroo Island suffered devastating bushfires in 2020. It was feared that the new assassin spider had been pushed towards extinction by the fires, because the 2010 site had been burned out. In 2021, arachnologist Jessica Marsh searched for the new assassin spider on Kangaroo Island. She found more specimens in 2021 at sites several kilometers distant from the 2010 site, and her by-catch included the new millipede.
“Third time lucky! I found the new millipede alive and well this year at relatively wet sites not far from its 2010 and 2021 localities.”
– Robert Mesibov
He collected a few specimens for description and future genetic analysis, and the 1936, 2021 and 2026 specimens are now all housed in SAMA.
An unanswered question is whether C. deckeri still lives on South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula, which is much drier than northwestern Kangaroo Island.
“The 1936 locality is underlain by limestone, and the rock is broken where it is exposed at the ground surface. I wonder if the species survives in small voids in this bedrock, as a relict from wetter periods in South Australia’s past. That might explain why I couldn’t find it in 2016 and 2017, and how it could persist in such a dry climate.”
– Robert Mesibov
Original source:
Mesibov R (2026) Two new millipede genera and species from Kangaroo Island, South Australia (Polydesmida, Dalodesmidae, Spirostreptida, Cambalidae). ZooKeys 1295: 277-291. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1295.214938
For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.
Analysing 52 specimens with a genetic method known as MIG-seq, the team found that an insect previously regarded as a single species, Omoplax desecta, in fact comprised two.
Researchers have used genome-wide DNA data to identify a new insect species on the Ogasawara Islands, a remote Japanese archipelago roughly 900 to 1,000 kilometres south of Tokyo. The findings suggest that evolution among island insects is more intricate than appearances imply. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
The Ogasawara Islands are a UNESCO World Natural Heritage site, celebrated for their endemic land snails and plants. Their insects, of which some 440 endemic species are known, have received far less evolutionary attention.
Analysing 52 specimens with a genetic method known as MIG-seq, the team found that an insect previously regarded as a single species, Omoplax desecta, in fact comprised two. Populations on the Chichijima and Hahajima island groups were genetically distinct, and subtle differences in male genitalia confirmed the split. The Hahajima population is now described as Omoplax sandoru, named after the local name of its host plant.
Omoplax desecta (nymph). Image credit: Jun Souma.Omoplax desecta (adult). Image credit: Jun Souma.
Souma was first drawn to Omoplaxdesecta by its unusual diet:
“The reason I took a particular interest in Omoplax desecta is that it feeds on both the native plant Rhaphiolepis indica var. tashiroi and the introduced plant Calophyllum inophyllum in the Chichijima island group.
This is quite unusual for lace bugs, which typically exhibit high host specificity. I was also intrigued by the fact that it is distributed across multiple island groups, which is different from other Omoplax species.”
The Hahajima population posed its own puzzle:
“I had wondered why it fed exclusively on Rhaphiolepis indica var. tashiroi and why there were no individuals with dark brown to black pronotum, which are sometimes seen in the Chichijima island group.
After conducting population genetic and phylogenetic analyses, I began to suspect that this population might be a distinct species. Upon closely observing their morphological characteristics, I was certain of this.”
Jun Souma, conducting observation on Calophyllum inophyllum where Omoplax desecta feeds. Image credit: Jun Souma.
The evolutionary tree also overturned expectations:
“The most surprising finding of my research was that species feeding on the same plant and appearing very similar are not necessarily sister groups.
Adaptive radiation among insects on oceanic islands may be more complex than comparisons of morphological characteristics and life histories would suggest at first glance.”
The results point to both geographic isolation and shifts between host plants as drivers of speciation.
Rhaphiolepis indica var. tashiroi. Image credit: Jun Souma.
Of particular interest is the insect’s adoption of Calophyllum inophyllum, a tree introduced by people. The data indicate that this host shift occurred once, and recently.
“I also find it interesting that the introduction of Calophyllum inophyllum by humans may have led to a budding of future speciation in Omoplax desecta.”
Jun Souma
Calophyllum inophyllum. Image credit: Jun Souma.
The authors note that DNA could not be obtained from two rare species, leaving parts of the story unresolved. Further sampling will be needed to trace how these insects reached the islands and diversified.
Original source:
Souma J, Nakahama N (2026) Genome-wide SNP data reveal phylogenetic relationships and further new species of lace bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Tingidae) endemic to the Japanese oceanic islands (the Ogasawara Islands), providing insight into their speciation. ZooKeys 1294: 175-203. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1294.205145
For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.
Researchers have now described three new species of the conger eel genus Gnathophis, drawing on 130 specimens collected from the deep sea.
Researchers from National Taiwan Ocean University, University of Taipei and the Smithsonian Institution have now described three new species of the conger eel genus Gnathophis, drawing on 130 specimens collected from the deep sea. The findings raise the number of Gnathophis species known from Taiwan from two to five.
Members of this genus are medium-sized eels of tropical and subtropical deep waters, recognisable by a blunt tail tip, a fleshy snout that projects beyond the teeth, and a small fleshy keel on the underside of the snout.
The team compared vertebral counts, the pores of the sensory lateral line, colouring and tooth patterns, and for two of the species they added DNA barcoding to confirm the distinction. The two barcoded species differ from each other by roughly 4.4 to 4.9 per cent in the gene examined, well beyond the variation seen within a single species.
Each name tells a small story about where the eel was found or how it looks:
Gnathophis kbalanensis (Kbalan’s conger): named after “Kbalan”, an ancient name for the Yilan region of northeastern Taiwan, in use roughly 800 to 1,300 years ago. It is also known as Cabaran in Spanish and Kat-má-lán in Taiwanese. The largest specimen measured 472 millimetres, and the species is recognised by its blackish fins and a high vertebral count of 134 to 137.
Gnathophis melanurum (black tail conger): named from the Greek melan, meaning black, and urum, meaning tail, in reference to its black tail fin. Its dorsal and anal fins are pale, which makes the dark tail stand out. It was found off both northeastern and southwestern Taiwan, mostly at depths of around 200 to 300 metres.
Gnathophis nanhaiensis (Nan Hai’s conger): named after “Nan Hai”, the Chinese name for the South China Sea, where the holotype was collected at a depth of about 509 metres. The Latin ending -ensis means “originating in”. Known from only two specimens, it has pale fins and the highest vertebral count of the three, at 139 to 143.
Gnathophis kbalanensis sp. nov. Credit: Jian-Fu Huang, et al.
Gnathophis melanurum sp. nov. Jian-Fu Huang, et al.
Gnathophis nanhaiensis sp. nov. Jian-Fu Huang, et al.
The first two species share a feature that sets them apart from some of their relatives: the lateral line pores above the pectoral fin are raised, and the peritoneum, the lining of the body cavity, is black. Several of the specimens were ripe females carrying loose eggs, which suggests these waters may serve as spawning grounds.
The study also tidies up the regional record. An eel previously listed in Taiwan as Gnathophis xenica was confirmed to be a misidentification, and the researchers found no evidence to split the widespread G. heterognathos into separate species.
The work is dedicated to the late Dr David G. Smith, whose contribution to eel taxonomy inspired the first author.
Original source:
Huang J-F, Liao Y-C, Chan T-Y, Chen H-M, Smith DG (2026) The congrid eel genus Gnathophis in Taiwan (Anguilliformes, Congridae), with descriptions of three new species. ZooKeys 1287: 11-46. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1287.183842
For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.
Scientists from Yibin University and collaborating institutions have formally described Indotyphlops gyirongensis, the Gyirong blind snake.
High on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, often called the “Roof of the World,” a new species of snake waits beneath the stones…
Scientists from Yibin University and collaborating institutions have formally described Indotyphlops gyirongensis, the Gyirong blind snake, a discovery that adds a new member to one of the least understood branches of the snake family tree.
General (top) and ventral (below) views of the holotype of Indotyphlops gyirongensis sp. nov. in life (by Peng Guo).
Blind snakes are small, burrowing reptiles that spend nearly their entire lives underground. Their secretive habits and similar appearances make them notoriously difficult to study.
The family Typhlopidae contains roughly 280 species, yet its relationships remain poorly resolved, and new species continue to surface wherever researchers look carefully. Until now, no blind snake had ever been recorded in the Xizang Autonomous Region, which makes this find a first for the area.
The single specimen, an adult female, was collected in August 2025 at an elevation of 2,262 metres, close to the border between China and Nepal. She was resting beneath a stone at the edge of an evergreen broad-leaved forest, where deep humus and a thick layer of fallen leaves create ideal conditions for a creature that lives by burrowing. Among her neighbours were a Himalayan pit viper and a Himalayan toad!
Microhabitat of the type specimen of Indotyphlops gyirongensis sp. nov. in Gyirong, Xizang, China (by Peng Guo).
The snake itself is slender and elegant. At 265 millimetres, it is large by the standards of its genus, yet it measures just 3.5 millimetres across at midbody. Its glossy scales are light brown, each one darker on its rear half, which gives the body a delicate and finely patterned sheen. The underside is cream and so thin-skinned that it is partly transparent to the internal organs.
Most distinctive is its pale cream head cap, which lacks pigment as far back as the eye. The eye itself is only a dark spot, with no visible pupil or iris, fitting for an animal that navigates by touch and chemical cues rather than sight. Its tail ends in a small nubbin rather than a sharp spine.
Some of the most telling differences are hidden in the arrangement of the scales along the lip. Blind snakes are classified partly by how their upper lip scales overlap the shields above them. In nearly all of the snake’s relatives, the third scale overlaps the one beside the eye, a pattern known as T-III.
The Gyirong blind snake shows a rarer arrangement, called T-V, in which both the second and third lip scales overlap the shields above. Few documented members of its genus share this feature, which provides a clean and reliable way to separate it from most of its kin.
Anatomy alone did not settle the matter. The team sequenced two mitochondrial genes and placed the snake within a broad evolutionary tree. It nested firmly within Indotyphlops, as the sister lineage to I. albiceps, but its genetic divergence was substantial. For one gene, it differed from its closest relatives with available data by more than 24 per cent, and for another by more than 18 per cent, margins far beyond what is typically seen within a single species.
The name honours the place of discovery. Gyirongensis refers to Gyirong Town in Gyirong County, where the holotype was found, and it is formed as a noun in apposition. The authors propose the English common name “Gyirong blind snake” and the Chinese name 吉隆盲蛇 (Jílóng Mángshé).
Map showing the locality of the new species in Gyirong, Xizang, China.
Because the type locality sits so close to the Nepalese border, the researchers consider it highly likely that the species also lives on the other side, thus pending further fieldwork.
Original source:
Lyu B, Tan S, Zhao Z, Wallach V, Liu Q, Guo P (2026) A new species of blind snake, Indotyphlops (Serpentes, Typhlopidae), from the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, China. ZooKeys 1292: 261-273. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1292.197322
For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.
Last week marked another annual meeting of the Biodiversity Information Standards network, otherwise known as TDWG, with the Norwegian capital Oslo hosting the event between 20 and 25 September.
Last week marked another annual meeting of the Biodiversity Information Standards network, otherwise known as TDWG, with the Norwegian capital Oslo hosting the event between 21 and 25 September.
TDWG is the international, non-profit organisation formerly known as the Taxonomic Databases Working Group, which develops and maintains the standards, such as Darwin Core, that allow biodiversity data to be shared, integrated and understood across institutions worldwide.
The six-day programme was a meeting point for over 300 stakeholders from research, practitioner and corporate circles, with proceedings centred around one central topic – “Research and Robot-Ready Biodiversity Data Standards”. In that sense, the themes of accessibility, responsibility, innovation and collaboration were foremost on the minds of participants as they contemplated how information on the biosphere should be extracted, consolidated and shared in the years to come.
As a long-standing partner of TDWG, Pensoft Publishers served as both a sponsor and an exhibitor for the event. In the latter capacity, the company contributed with a joint booth for three of the EU-funded projects it is leading the outreach efforts for:
BMD – an initiative working towards a Biodiversity Explorer for high-throughput biodiversity monitoring tools, biodiversity data and biodiversity analyses for better conservation across Europe
TETTRIX – a new arrival building a next-generation taxonomic system connecting knowledge, expertise and innovation for all across the Old Continent
ANERIS – a pan-European effort to mobilise a network of operational marine biology via a new technological infrastructure
The Pensoft team at the joint booth of the BMD, TETTRIX and ANERIS projects.
A number of other projects from Pensoft’s communication portfolio also found a place in the display, including BEAGLE, OneSTOP, B-Cubed, MAMBO, OBSGESSION and BioAgora. Furthermore, 14 of the company’s journals were in the spotlight, including Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS), the official journal of the TDWG community (where all of the conference’s abstracts are set to be published).
Crucially, the event also saw the official launch of ORPHO, Pensoft’s new collaborative workspace for scientific writing. Founder and CEO Prof. Lyubomir Penev and CTO Teodor Georgiev conducted live demos of the tool, showcasing how manuscripts crafted within it with full version control for authors become discoverable, interoperable and FAIR-compliant.
In the context of TDWG2026’s agenda, they also presented ORPHO’s integrated semantic annotation and communication instruments as part of the workshop “How Literature Services can Support & Benefit from Biodiversity Publication and Data Standards?” on 24 September. The workspace was received with anticipation and enthusiasm by attendees, with many expressing a desire to test it out for themselves.
They were also treated with a tease of Pensoft’s next large-scale endeavour, as Senior Communications Officer Peter Bozakov pulled the curtain behind the forthcoming communication platform for research projects Scientiana.
Pensoft’s CTO Teodor Georgiev introduces the collaborative scientific workspace ORPHO.
As for other notable contributions to the wider conference agenda by researchers affiliated with Pensoft’s publishing or project activities:
The session “Operationalising Biodiversity Digital Twins within Data Space Ecosystems”, which was co-led by BMD coordinator and long-time author and reviewer across several Pensoft journals, including Biodiversity Data Journal and Research Ideas and Outcomes, Niels Raes, and showcased a number of innovative outputs from the project. As such, it was an important occasion to assess the initiative’s progress towards unifying Europe’s Data Space within a single Biodiversity Explorer.
Niels Raes presenting “Mainstreaming high-throughput biodiversity monitoring using AI” at TDWG 2026.
The symposium “Publishing and Communications Promoting Biodiversity, Natural History Collections, People, Data and Data Standards”, for which Deborah Paul (co-Editor-in-Chief of the Natural History Collections and Museomics (NHCM) journal) had the role of co-organiser. Within it, the TETTRIX project’s vision for the automated tracking of taxonomic research activities was laid out by consortium member David Fichtmüller. Moreover, Shelley James (co-Editor-in-Chief for NHCM) delivered an insightful talk on the creative promotion of biodiversity data and standards for success and recognition.
Co-Editors-in-Chief of NHCM, Shelley James and Deborah Paul, presenting “Hit or miss? Creative promotion of biodiversity data and standards for success and recognition” at TDWG 2026.
Notably, the Biodiversity Information Science and Standards (BISS) journal is the home for TDWG conference abstracts. TDWG 2026 presenters can currently submit their abstracts there and publish them in an extended abstract or mini-paper format completely free of charge. The journal also hosts abstracts from conferences held over the past decade. You can browse the TDWG 2026 collection here.
Last but not least, the company’s sponsorship supported two awards at TDWG2026 (with a free publication in a Pensoft journal as an accompanying prize):
Best Student Oral Presentation – awarded to Yeshan Qui for “Reporting structure and sampling-bias correction in citizen-science bird data across Asian cities”
Best Student Poster – awarded to Claudia Campanini for “Improving marine fieldwork documentation and metadata with Adaptable Standardised Methods Reporting (ASMR)”
Claudia Campanini receiving the Pensoft Best Student Poster Award at TDWG 2026.
Overall, TDWG2026 proved itself a crucial forum for mapping out the future of biodiversity monitoring and the management of the myriad data streams that emerge from it. Pensoft is proud to be an important actor in this process, contributing with innovative tools and solutions at the heart of the interface between research and practice. As summarised by Prof. Penev:
“Given its status as a large-scale conference centred around the future of biodiversity sciences in the age of AI, TDWG2026 was a crucial venue for unveiling Pensoft’s forward-looking vision for academic publishing and science communication. The “pearl” of these pursuits is undoubtedly the ORPHO workspace, a tool that is well-placed to introduce a new standard when it comes to collaborative AI-FAIR research in Europe and beyond.”
Lissomus arawak measures under a centimetre long and is easily recognised by its shining and almost hairless black body, alongside its pale-yellow antennae segments.
A new species of click beetle with a glossy and highly domed black body has been described from cloud forest sites in the mountains of the Dominican Republic, and named in honour of the Arawak peoples who lived on the island before European colonisation.
Lissomus arawak measures under a centimetre long and is easily recognised by its shining and almost hairless black body, alongside its pale-yellow antennae segments. It is only the third species of the genus Lissomus known from Hispaniola, and the third recorded anywhere in the Greater Antilles.
Lissomus arawak, dorsal habitus. Image by J. Pirkl, 2025, used with permission.
Lissomus arawak, ventral habitus. Image by J. Pirkl, 2025, used with permission.
Lissomus arawak, lateral habitus. Image by J. Pirkl, 2025, used with permission.
The study, published in the open-access journal Alpine Entomology, was carried out by Paul J. Johnson of South Dakota State University and Jiri Hodecek of the Swiss Human Institute of Forensic Taphonomy, as part of an ongoing survey of Dominican insect life. Specimens were found at three sites in montane broadleaf and cloud forest between roughly 600 and 700 metres, near the Sierra de Bahoruco and in the Cordillera Septentrional.
Rather than resembling the two other Lissomus species already known from Hispaniola, the new beetle turned out to be structurally closer to species from Central and northern South America.
“The morphological differences suggest that the Lissomus species of Hispaniola may not all descend from a single colonisation event.
One possible explanation is therefore that ancestors of these beetles reached the Greater Antilles on at least two separate occasions. This remains a testable hypothesis rather than a demonstrated evolutionary history.”
The Research Team
The species is known from just five specimens, collected individually between 1985 and 2024, all of them female.
“With such a small sample, chance and the opportunistic nature of the collecting are probably the simplest explanations. This does not seriously weaken our confidence that L. arawak is distinct. All five females share a consistent and unique combination of morphological characters.”
The Research Team
Type locality of Lissomusarawak in Pedernales province (el. 700 m).
The name is a deliberate tribute to the island’s first inhabitants:
“We chose the name arawak to recognise the Indigenous history and continuing cultural heritage of the Antilles. We wanted the name of this distinctive endemic species to connect the biological history of the island with its human history.”
The discovery forms part of a wider effort, they added, “to document the island’s still incompletely known insect diversity,” with at least 15 further click beetle species thought to await description in the Dominican Republic alone.
The discovery forms part of EntomoDR, a long-term field and taxonomy project documenting the still incompletely known insect diversity of the Dominican Republic through repeated expeditions and collaboration with an international network of taxonomic specialists. More information about the project and its discoveries is available at https://entomodr.com
Original source:
Johnson PJ, Hodecek J (2026) Lissomus arawak sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Elateridae), a new species from the Dominican Republic. Alpine Entomology 10: 155-161. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.10.193434
Themed “Integrating the Diversity of Ecology”, the event welcomed over 1,000 researchers in the field from across career stages, who had the opportunity to enjoy conference talks across 36 thematic sessions, as many as six keynote talks, two poster sessions, several open society meetings and quite a few social events, including excursions and a conference dinner.
Conference delegates enjoying the musical clock installation mounted on an elevated balcony on the glass façade of the ODEON building, where the Nordic Oikos-GfÖ 2026 conference took place between 13 and 17 September 2026.
Beyond publishing solutions, a key focus was given to OBSGESSION: a Horizon Europe-funded project where Pensoft is actively involved. To better understand and predict changes in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, the OBSGESSION consortium integrates multi-source Earth Observation data (such as high-resolution satellite imagery and drone monitoring) with ground-based in-situ research, including advanced environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling. By coupling these data streams with cutting-edge detection-attribution modelling and machine learning algorithms, the project generates scalable Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs). These ecological approaches and analytical frameworks are actively tested and validated through six biodiversity pilots across diverse European ecosystems. In the open-science Research Ideas and Outcomes journal, you can find a collection of project outputs, including research papers, project reports and deliverables, and guideline papers published across journals and platforms.
At the Pensoft-OBSGESSION-branded booth, conference participants would stop by to chat with Pensoft’s Head of Journal development and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva and Senior Communications Officer: Desislava Raykova.
As a leader of the “Dissemination, Multi-stakeholder outreach and synergies” work package at OBSGESSION, Pensoft is tasked with stakeholder engagement and community building, ultimately contributing to the high impact of the resulting outputs, methodologies and policy recommendations that aim to strengthen public understanding of biodiversity change.
One of the six keynote talks was presented by Prof. Dr. Isabell Hensen (Martin Luther University Halle, Germany), who received the GfÖ Honorary Medal 2026 for her leading, forward-looking contributions to ecological research and the scientific community. Her work examines how genetic variation, environmental conditions, disturbance, and plant-animal interactions shape plant populations, with particular emphasis on rare species, biological invasions, and the regeneration of degraded forests.
In her talk, titled “One spark is enough: regeneration ecology of Andean forests under global change”, she reported on post-fire regeneration processes in tropical Andean forests, based on long-term field experiments and observational studies.
Hensen focused on the well-studied endemic plant genus Polylepis, which forms the world’s highest-elevation forests and illustrates how fire has shaped ecosystem dynamics over millennia. Her talk also mentioned a 2022 monograph of the genus, published in the Pensoft journal PhytoKeys by Tatiana Erika Boza Espinoza (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) and Michael Kessler (University of Zurich), which brought together results from 35 years of field and herbarium experience.
On Wednesday, Pensoft’s Iva Boyadzhieva delivered a presentation titled “Scholarly Communication: Lessons from the Publisher’s Kitchen”. She highlighted the vital role publishers play in helping researchers communicate their insights not only to peers, but also to decision-makers and the public. Emphasizing the publisher’s responsibility to support authors with robust infrastructure and dedicated human expertise, she outlined how Pensoft works to FAIRify scholarly publishing and future-proof scientific knowledge in an era of rapid AI development and expanding research output.
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Pensoft’s team was delighted to meet up with dedicated readers, authors, reviewers, and editors from across Pensoft’s portfolio, as well as introduce Pensoft journals to attendees discovering them for the first time.
Visitors were also particularly intrigued by several newly launched Pensoft journals. Developed in close collaboration with passionate researchers, these fresh outlets directly address key gaps in academic publishing.
One of the newly launched journals in the spotlight was Agricultural and Environmental Modelling (AEM), which provides a unique scholarly outlet thanks to its modern approach to publishing by increasing transparency, giving credit to research objects across the entire modelling research lifecycle. This is achieved through publishing specialised article types, such as: Formal Model, Model Testing and Calibration, Model Implementation and Documentation, Data Papers and Software Descriptions. These new publishing formats are designed to keep pace with advances in Modelling research and to make it FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) by enabling scholarly credit for diverse research outputs, often created by different groups of authors. For the time being, AEM remains a Diamond Open Access journal, meaning that it will not charge authors for open-access publication.
Other recently founded journals addressing emerging and fast-developing disciplines within the ecological field that took the spotlight were:
Individual-Based Ecology: launched to support understanding and predicting ecological systems’ response to rapidly changing and novel conditions by linking individual responses to responses at higher levels of organisation.
Advances in Pollinator Research: a multidisciplinary journal publishing research on pollination ecology, pollinator-plant interactions, pollinator health and drivers of pollinator declines, crop and wild flower pollination, pollinator conservation practices, molecular ecology of pollinators, pollinator and pollination monitoring, decision support for policy and socio-economics.
Journal of Regeneration: a multidisciplinary journal for the dissemination of research results on regeneration and tissue repair across phyla. These mechanisms can be framed within an evolutionary framework and integrate a variety of cellular processes involving stem cells, dedifferentiating or even transdifferentiating cells.
All of these journals operate with no article fees for either authors, nor readers.
To receive updates on new publications and relevant news, sign up for Email Alerts on any journal’s homepage. Creating a Pensoft account also allows users to easily customise their notification preferences, follow additional journals, or filter updates by research topic. You can also follow journals on social media, including BlueSky, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Supporting European Policy Through Priority Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs)
Delegates at the event showed strong interest in OBSGESSION’s first policy brief:“Prioritising Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to support European Union (EU) policy needs based on the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.” To tackle a critical challenge in environmental monitoring, OBSGESSION focuses on prioritising key EBVs to directly support the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 – a roadmap designed to put Europe’s biodiversity on a path to recovery through 102 specific actions and sub-actions.
To align these policy needs with actionable data, the OBSGESSION team conducted an assessment to identify priority EBV candidates. By categorising EBV-applicable actions and indicators across different ecosystem realms and implementation stages, the project pinpointed the most essential variables needed to strengthen monitoring, reporting, and policy execution. The document is based on a deliverable by the project (D1.1 Policy Landscape and Needs Assessment).
This policy brief is part of a broader, ongoing effort within OBSGESSION to bridge the gap between biodiversity data and policy execution. To dive deeper into the science behind this topic, the project has hosted a dedicated seminar series exploring key aspects of the framework:
Bringing Methodologies to Life Across European Ecosystems
Beyond theoretical frameworks, OBSGESSION grounds its research in six biodiversity validation pilots across Europe. The case studies represent European biodiversity and ecosystem conservation challenges at scales varying from local to regional.Full details on each ecosystem pilot are now available in a collection of newly published pilot factsheets, which made their debut at the conference, where people could take a look at their digital versions.
Reading those materials gives an insight into the practical testing environment to demonstrate how Earth observation, field research, and ecological modelling come together to deliver actionable biodiversity insights. You can also check outOBSGESSION’s biodiversity pilots on the project’s website.
The OBSGESSION in a Nutshell video presents a concise overview of the project’s overarching mission and components.
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To relive the conference by exploring the detailed programme alongside the full abstracts, visit the conference website.
Researchers have described a new species of brilliantly coloured fish from a network of forest streams in the Brazilian Amazon, and have already recommended it for listing as Endangered because of the pressures facing its only known home.
Researchers have described a new species of brilliantly coloured fish from a network of forest streams in the Brazilian Amazon, and have already recommended it for listing as Endangered because of the pressures facing its only known home.
The fish, named Laimosemion laranja, is a killifish measuring less than three centimeters in standard length. Males are strikingly patterned, with rows of orange spots along the front half of the body and bold, chevron-shaped orange bars towards the tail, set against a pale grey flank.
Laimosemion laranja new species, INPA–ICT 062601, Paratype, female, 20.1 mm SL: Brazil, Amapá, Laranjal do Jari, Rio Cajari, Amazonas Basin. Photo: Yuri Abrantes.
Laimosemion laranja new species, INPA–ICT 062600, Holotype, male, 26.8 mm SL: Brazil, Amapá, Laranjal do Jari, Rio Cajari, Amazonas Basin. Photo: Yuri Abrantes.
“We are developing a research project aimed at investigating the evolution of life-history strategies in freshwater fishes of the family Rivulidae across different biomes in Brazil.
During our sampling in small rivers locally known as ‘igarapés’ in the Rio Cajari region, in Amapá State, we found this fish with a very striking coloration, which immediately caught our attention.”
Yuri Abrantes of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte
The research team with Laimosemion laranja. Photo credit: Yuri Abrantes.
Waldir Miron Berbel-Filho with Laimosemion laranja. Photo credit: Yuri Abrantes.
Confirming that the fish was new to science required close comparison of its body proportions, scale counts and skeletal features against its closest relatives, together with an analysis of its mitochondrial DNA.
“It was an unexpected moment. Initially, what most caught our attention was the impressive coloration of the males and females, which was unlike anything we had previously encountered in the study area. This sparked our admiration and a great deal of curiosity.”
Once the genetic analysis confirmed the fish’s distinct identity, he said:
“It was something special, as we saw an opportunity to contribute to increasing our knowledge of Amazonian biodiversity and to draw attention to the conservation of areas that are still poorly explored but highly threatened.”
The species’ name, laranja, is Portuguese for both the colour orange and the fruit, a fitting nod to the males’ vivid markings. It also honours Laranjal do Jari, the Amapá municipality where the fish was found.
“We wanted to choose a name that would highlight a characteristic of the fish while also fostering a sense of connection with the people of the region where it was discovered.”
Yuri Abrantes
Habitat of Laimosemion laranja. Photo credit: Yuri Abrantes.
Laimosemion laranja belongs to a group of Amazonian killifish, some of which have evolved an unusual survival strategy: their embryos can pause development entirely, lying dormant in damp mud until seasonal pools refill with rain.
“Laimosemion represents one of the five independent origins of the annual life cycle within the family Rivulidae.
Laimosemion laranja is particularly interesting because it expands our knowledge of the diversity and evolution of this group in the region.”
Yuri Abrantes
The new species is currently known from just three small forest pools near Laranjal do Jari, all showing signs of disturbance from deforestation, mining and urban expansion; one site lies close to water discolored by mining sediment, while another, within the city itself, is affected by plastic pollution.
Laimosemionlaranja in its habitat. Video credit: Yuri Abrantes.
With its entire known range covering an estimated 25 square kilometers, the researchers argue that Laimosemion laranja meets the criteria for an Endangered listing under IUCN guidelines, and have recommended extending the boundaries of the neighboring Rio Cajari Extractive Reserve to help protect it.
Abrantes YG, Lima SMQ, Nielsen DTB, de Lira FO, da Silva MJ, Berbel-Filho WM (2026) A new killifish of the genus Laimosemion (Cyprinodontiformes, Rivulidae) from Rio Cajari in the Brazilian Amazon. Zoosystematics and Evolution 102(4): 1079-1088. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.102.187659
Researchers have discovered sixteen new species of fungus living unnoticed inside garden and wild flowers across northern Thailand, more than quintupling the number of such fungi known to occur in the country.
Researchers have discovered sixteen new species of fungusliving unnoticed inside garden and wild flowers across northern Thailand, more than quintupling the number of such fungi known to occur in the country.
The fungi belong to Aureobasidium, a genus of dark, yeast-like organisms found almost everywhere on Earth, from human skin to glacial ice. Several members of the group are already prized in industry for producing useful enzymes, fighting plant disease and even breaking down plastic. Yet despite their familiarity, little was known about the diversity within Thailand’s tropical flowers.
Researchers from Chiang Mai University and Kasetsart University collected 54 fungal strains from 31 species of flower during a 2024 survey, among them bougainvillea, butter daisy, and periwinkle. Using a combination of DNA analysis across five gene regions, microscopy and growth trials, the team distinguished sixteen entirely new species, alongside five already known species (four of which had never before been recorded in Thailand).
Professor Nakarin Suwannarach of Chiang Mai University.
“Our team was motivated to study Aureobasidium because it was one of the most frequently isolated fungal genera from our flower samples.
We observed considerable variation among the isolates in colony morphology and other phenotypic characteristics, which suggested that there might be much greater species diversity than previously recognised.”
Distinguishing the new species was far from straightforward. Many looked almost identical under the microscope, and the DNA markers usually relied upon proved unable to tell them apart.
“This highlighted the limitations of relying on morphology alone, as well as on commonly used molecular markers.
By integrating multiple loci with morphological, physiological and growth-temperature data, we were able to distinguish closely related species more accurately. This was particularly surprising because Aureobasidium is a well-known fungal genus, yet our results revealed substantial previously unrecognised diversity in Thailand.”
Most of the new species take their names from the flowers in which they were found, including Aureobasidium bougainvilleae, A. catharanthi and A. plumeriae, while others honour the northern Thai locations where they were collected.
Two species, A. saisamorniae and A. savitreeae, were named in tribute to two of Thailand’s leading mycologists, Professor Saisamorn Lumyong and Professor Savitree Limtong.
“We wanted the names to tell a story, either about where these fungi came from or about the people who have helped advance mycological research in Thailand.”
Professor Suwannarach
Bougainvillea. Credit: Nakarin Suwannarach.
Beyond the taxonomy, the team says the findings matter for the future. A small number of Aureobasidium species have been linked to opportunistic infections, so having an accurate record of which species occur naturally will help scientists spot and respond to any change in their behaviour over time.
“This study demonstrates that multilocus phylogenetic analysis is not simply a tool for naming new species. It can reveal hidden fungal diversity and provide essential baseline information for understanding and monitoring fungal populations in the future.”
